An anti-aging pharmaceutical agent or treatment regimen can be
defined as one that simultaneously beneficially affects two or more major
manifestations of aging such as cancer and heart disease.

There
is some human clinical evidence that a very few agents such as aspirin and statins do
benefit heart health and also reduce incidence of some forms of cancer. Some
other agents such as resveratrol show promise in animal experiments.

Since
aging is a universal affliction, it has for centuries been an obvious subject
for scams and quacks. Many highly hyped remedies such as human growth hormone
have no clinically demonstrated beneficial anti-aging effect and may have severe
adverse side-effects.

Modern medicine is increasingly specialized and therefore somewhat oriented
against the idea that a single agent or regimen can affect multiple diverse
manifestations such as cancer and heart disease, which appear to involve very
different disease mechanisms. Many physicians consider aging an unavoidable,
unalterable property of living things. Most of the contrary evidence comes from
non-human sources.

Non-programmed theories of aging generally suggest that aging is the result of
many unrelated factors -- thus suggesting that it is unlikely that a single
agent could be found that beneficially affects multiple symptoms. Some
non-programmed theorists think that anti-aging medicine is "a theoretical
impossibility." Other researchers following non-programmed theories are
examining ways of counteracting damage mechanisms such as oxidation and are more
optimistic that significant anti-aging agents will eventually be developed.

Programmed theories of aging suggest that multiple aging manifestations are
mediated by a common program or life span regulation mechanism. This suggests
that agents that affect the common program or mechanism are possible and that a
single agent could well affect multiple diverse manifestations. Evolved
biological mechanisms typically involve hormones, signaling, and genes,
Researchers following programmed aging theories are investigating this path.

The
foregoing illustrates the massive difference in approach between programmed and
non-programmed theories and highlights the importance of resolving the
programmed/non-programmed issue.